Quick Sao Paulo pre-quali thoughts

We’d planned a post yesterday, but recurring health issues had other uses for our time. *sigh*

Here’s what we’re watching this weekend:

The radar: It’s Brazil – warm, humid and prone to torrential rains. This is the best radar we’ve found: http://200.145.151.199/alerta/gis/ Looks like things are clear for now, but rain chances increase later today/tonight and then decrease a bit for tomorrow. A good downpour can really wreck the schedule here, since drainage is not good and ponding is a real problem. Crossing fingers…

Chevy vs. Honda: We’re no mechanics, so we can’t tell how fast a turbo charger can be installed. We’re assuming it’s fairly quickly compared to an entire engine change. So, now that Chevy’s protest has been denied and the new turbos are cleared for use, we guess the Hondas will all have their upgrades in place and the playing field will level out between the two leading engines.

Lotus: We’re hoping Lotus succeeds in closing the gap over the next few races now that they have two fewer teams to focus on. DRR and BHA are working on engine deals with the other two suppliers, giving Lotus a chance to regroup and focus their resources on improvements rather than just surviving.

Crowd favorite: Easy…@rubarrichello. And folks are excited that Felipe Massa is in his pit this weekend.

Twitter fines: Huh? Well, it’s happened. John Barnes (@jbindy4) of @PantherRacing tweeted this about the turbo hearing: “Today is the day to resolve TURBOGATE! I hope @Indcar gets their act together. It has been embarassing.” (Typos his – although we make ’em a plenty.) IndyCar pointed to Rule 9.3.1.8 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook: “Using improper, profane or disparaging language or gestures in reference to Officials, Members or actions or situations connected in any way with INDYCAR, the IZOD IndyCar Series or any Event.” It placed Barnes on probation until the end of the calendar year and fined him 25K. We’re torn – we understand the need to protect the league’s image, but this feels a teeny bit harsh. Perhaps handling this privately would have been better for both parties – the fine being made public has drawn a great deal more attention to offending tweet than it had originally gotten. On a broader note, we do hope that social media use will not be lessened or discouraged by the use of fines, etc. A reiteration of guidelines might be in order, but IndyCar’s active social media space, especially on Twitter, is a huge asset and should be nurtured.

Almost time to set the grid – look for our Sao Paulo lineup post sometime between the end of qualis and prerace tomorrow.